CARY, N.C. (WNCN) – Growing up with your best friends is every kid’s dream. But for University of North Carolina college midfielder Victoria Pickett, that wasn’t a dream — it was reality. The third of four children and the first daughter, Victoria’s childhood was everything she hoped it would be.
“I naturally made three best friends,” Pickett recalled. “It was a lot of fun.”
Victoria says her brother, Marcus Pickett, was like a second father to her. Dylan, the second of four Pickett siblings, was always joking around and trying to make his siblings laugh. Victoria always tried to be like her brothers. And Julia, the youngest, whom Victoria affectionately called “The President,” was always protective of her.
The Pickett parents always wanted to instill a sense of unity, support, love and respect among their four children, and it soon became a culture where the four did everything together. When Marcus and Dylan started playing football, Victoria quickly followed suit.
“I started playing soccer when I was about 4 years old because I wanted to be like my older brothers,” Pickett said.
Little did she know she would not only follow but surpass their accomplishments on the pitch, eventually earning a scholarship to play collegiate soccer at the University of Wisconsin and later being selected 15th overall in the 2021 NWSL Draft.
All three of Victoria’s brothers were incredibly proud of her, but Dylan took it to another level.
“Everyone has a playing card, and Dylan carried my playing card in his wallet. When I came home from Christmas, he said, ‘Tori, I’m so proud of you. I show this to everyone I meet,'” Victoria recalled with a smile.
Dylan wasn’t just a big brother figure, he was a magnetic guy — outgoing, popular, funny, always trying to make people laugh — so it was a shock when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
“It was hard to see a different side of him,” Pickett recalled. “He was obviously going through something very real and I just couldn’t understand it because I couldn’t hear it, couldn’t feel what he was feeling.”
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness characterized by a variety of symptoms that can affect a person’s thoughts, perceptions, emotions and behavior.
Dylan turned to drugs as a way to quiet the voices his diagnosis was making.
In August 2023, Marcus and Julia show up on Victoria’s doorstep in Raleigh, where Dylan has died of a drug overdose.
“I remember shaking and thinking this isn’t real,” Victoria said. “It was like I wasn’t going to get the shot. This can’t happen to me, this can’t happen to my family. It was really heartbreaking.”
Dylan’s death was the most painful thing that Victoria has ever experienced – possibly the most painful thing she’s ever experienced – but she decided to use his death as a way to support others battling mental illness by speaking out about him and her own experiences.
“A lot of people have already come up to me and said this story has impacted them and helped them get through some things,” she says.
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If you see Victoria on the pitch this season, you might notice she’s wearing her new jersey number, 94, which pays tribute to the year Dylan was born. It’s more than just a jersey number; it’s a promise to keep her brother’s memory alive and to continue to serve those in need.
“I think he would say… Dylan is really proud of me,” Pickett recalled. “He loves me. He’s proud of what I’ve accomplished and what I’m trying to accomplish in terms of the community.”
Throughout Victoria Pickett’s journey of triumph and tribulation, her resilience shines brightly, lighting the way for others to find hope and healing in the midst of adversity.
